Harvest Series 2021: Week 2
With week one of our harvest behind us, there are only more and more grapes being brought in. While it is still early for a lot of grapes that most are familiar with, there still are some exciting grapes being brought in to produce some of the most popular wines our winemaking team gets to make. With August being as hot as it was, everything was looking great... until the rain came in. While the ground is happy to get hydrated, it is the worst possible time to get rain for the wine industry. With grapes going through Veraison and needing as much sun and heat before being harvested, rain can promote rot, disease, and an oversaturation of water in the grapes, but Mother Nature usually finds a way to even everything out. Tune back every Monday to learn a little bit more about the grapes we are lucky enough to bring in!
Muscat Ottonel
While we looked at Baco Noir last week, this week we are fortunate enough to be able to bring in and explore the world of Muscat Ottonel. While you will almost never see 'Muscat Ottonel' displayed on a label at Lakeview, or anywhere else for that matter, the wines crafted from the grape are incredibly popular throughout the world. Muscat Ottonel is the grape that produces the very famous Moscato wine. Muscat Ottonel is in the family of the Muscat grape, which is one of the noble Vitis Vinifera grapes. While we only have roughly 12 acres of vineyard at Lakeview Wine Co., one of the few grapes we grow on-site is Muscat Ottonel.
While many are familiar with Moscato coming from California and Australia, and many began their lives into wine with said Moscato's, Niagara Moscato is completely different. While the warmer climates will produce Moscato wines with high amounts of residual sugar, Ontario Moscato are more aromatic, floral, fruity, and incredibly easy to drink. While still 'sweet' for us in Niagara, for other parts of the world, they would be classified as off-dry. Typically harvested early in the season, fermented, and bottled, and released while they are still young, a cold bottle of Moscato on a hot summer day is second-to-none for many.
Here at Lakeview, our main style and our most popular style of Moscato is our FRESH Moscato. This wine is subtly sweet, with gorgeous floral notes, hints of citrus, orange blossom, and honey. Our FRESH Sparkling Moscato is a Double-Gold Medal Winner at the 2020 ACWC, and is the go-to sparkling of almost everyone who works at Lakeview. With notes of pear, lemon zest, and tropical fruit, the convenient 375mL bottle is a go-to for those relaxing poolside days.
While we are looking towards fall and cooler weather, there is always room for a glass (or bottle) of Ontario Moscato on those warm sunny days!
